Biden says in a meeting today with business and union leaders, "they all agreed" a national strategy for COVID-19 is essential to getting the economy back on track: "Things are going to get much tougher before they get easier…It's going to be difficult, but it can be done" pic.twitter.com/2OruU79bIf
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 16, 2020
Republican leaders in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin throw cold water on ploy to flip electors to Trump https://t.co/PI0GYjL02b via @usatoday
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 16, 2020
Analysis: The biggest rebukes of Trump’s voter fraud claims https://t.co/tSYsmEFcSh
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 17, 2020
"Ya know what? It doesn't matter," says @AndersonCooper.
"I was about to start off tonight telling you about you-know-who and what outrage he's done today, not accepting the results, blah blah blah…it doesn't matter. It's done. He is done. He is the past."#KeepingThemHonest pic.twitter.com/I3npX0LuEZ
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) November 14, 2020
On The Road – Captain C goes to Japan: Kyoto & Osaka
satby
Good morning AL! Time to go take a well deserved rest. Thanks for all you do.
O. Felix Culpa
Good morning! Now I’ll go back and read the post. :
ETA: What satby said. Many thanks for your thoughtfully curated posts. And good morning to satby!
satby
Cat 4 hurricane Iota lands in Nicaragua and is barely noticed by the media in this country because we’re busy drowning in the cesspool of bad news here. ?
Immanentize
@O. Felix Culpa: good morning, O. Good sleep, Satby. Thank you, AL!
danielx
Thanks AL
Baud
Three cheers for AL!
zhena gogolia
Yes, thank you, AL. Just watching 2:22 of Biden has made me so happy and calm.
Baud
Immanentize
@satby: If good can come from such devastating power as a hurricane, I hope Eta washes away Daniel Ortega and his wife.
Kay
Maybe it’s better none of the Trump hires will do any work on the transition. It’s a shame we have to continue to pay them for 9 weeks of doing nothing but the work is so low quality it would probably have to be redone anyway.
I wonder if the cult leader is wandering around in his bath robe, screaming obscenities at them. Yuck. Repulsive.
Immanentize
@Kay: I would pay them for six months of no work if they just walked away and handed the keys to Biden.
Baud
MJ also declined to show Trump’s tweets on air.
A little late, but an early Christmas present.
LurkerNoLonger
AC is right, it’s pretty amazing just how lame Trump is as a lame duck. The moment the race was called all of the air went out of him like a lumpy orange balloon. What a small pathetic excuse for a human.
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize: Good morning backatcha!
@zhena gogolia: Isn’t it wonderful having someone who understands leadership? I was just saying to Ms. O that this is how it’s done — set goals, manage expectations, and express reality-based confidence that yes, we can!
Kay
@Baud:
Republicans haven’t examined the election systems in a single state Trump won. The only election system problems occur in states that didn’t vote for their cult leader. This hasn’t been pointed out by a single member of the conservative legal brain trust or conservative media, although a 6th grader could pick it up. Not a peep out of them about North Carolina, which has a Dem governor like MI, PA and WI. Why is North Carolina exempt from their lawsuits? Because the cult leader won there.
Immanentize
@Kay: I wonder who is trying to get him to do what? Pompeo trying to get an airstrike on Iran? Stephen Miller trying to get him to issue a whites only drinking fountain executive order? O’Brien trying to get Haspel fired and him put in that job? Atlas trying to get some Tuskegee-like research funding for the Hoover Institute?
But if we know our Trump, the only thing he is working on is pardons for himself.
Baud
@Kay:
Because everyone–literally everyone–knows Trump’s claims are frivolous.
Immanentize
@Kay: Bush IIs lawyers were ruthless. But at least they were smart.
OzarkHillbilly
Anderson almost lost it there.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Baud:
Missing was this:
“Those Republican leaders have a great understanding of the level of legalized vote suppression, having concocted the schemes by knowing the numbers – and they inherently understand the level of justified, murderous rage which would follow. It might not quite get to Hutus and Tutsis, but nobody wants to live in a place where their cars need to be swept for bombs in the morning….”
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Every news program should start off talking about Biden. Good move.
Jeffro
first Republican to criticize Biden/Harris for being too slow to implement a national strategy to contain Covid-19 gets tossed into an active volcano, right? Who’s with me on this?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Immanentize:
I like to think that STRATCOM has handed out quiet directives that NCA has lost its shit and that no action should be taken unless inbounds are detected.
A codicil to those directives will be that anyone who obeys one of those orders will be subject to court martial for war crimes and then executed.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Jeffro: Will that be broadcast on pay per view, proceeds to go to infrastructure maintenance and enhancement or COVID relief?
PenAndKey
Other than rage about the election, scheme to steal a win from his loss, toy with wagging the dog in Iran and going golfing has he actually done anything resembling presidential duties since he lost the race? His administration is still running, but near as I can tell he’s already checked out from the job even more than he has his whole term
And yes, it’s very clear that the state level GOP in the states he’s trying to steal aren’t on board. I can only speak to my experiences in WI, but the amount of rage I see in people where a majority of our votes give us less than 40% of the legislature, and how much Vos has acted like a mini-McConnell at the expense of our state, makes me think that all the chatter about them being concerned for their safety if they actually tried to steal this aren’t wrong. People only put up with so much before they decide enough is enough.
SFAW
@Jeffro:
Not me.
Unless you expand it to the ENTIRE Republican Partei. [With a few, but not many, exceptions.]
NotMax
A possibly naive question.
Realizing the format isn’t conducive to the sort of free form, overlapping conversation of an in person setting, any interest in B-J virtual meet-ups on Zoom? Aware there are those (hi, Immanentize and zhena!) who are already overdosing on Zoom for professional purposes.
Baud
@NotMax:
I would participate but for the recent lesson offered by Jonathan Turley.
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
Imm, are you and the Immp going to be able to get together for Thanksgiving? So many families are having to adjust or abandon plans this year, but I’ve been thinking of you two in particular. (Maybe you’ve said, and I’ve simply missed it.)
zhena gogolia
@O. Felix Culpa:
Think how things might have been different with President Hillary saying this around March 1 last year.
terraformer
Josh Marshall’s reporting that Biden is lukewarm to the idea of investigating Trump’s crimes when in office. According to the article, he is wary of “alienating Trump voters”.
NO. No f’ing way. Truth and retribution is what we need, a full accounting. None of this “let’s move on” crap.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
I believe you mean Jeffrey Toobin. Turley’s too cagey for that.
Immanentize
You people really can work up violent fantasies, can’t you. And so early in the morning!
If your heart is a beautiful ripe tomato ?, each such idea is a tomato worm ?.
satby
@Immanentize: actually,I just got up. AL is the night owl who usually hits the sack after posting the morning thread. Good morning to you, @O. Felix Culpa: , and rikyrah, wherever she is.
Gearing up to head for the sure to be deserted market. I’m going to start pulling extra stuff out. I want to have it easy to empty if we go to a stricter shut down, which I expect in spite of the usual red state waffling going on. It’s been such an insane last two weeks nationally since the election and personally since John mentioned my Esty shop (I got an entire holiday season of orders in one day and ran out of everything. Thanks and sorry to those whose orders lagged.)
zhena gogolia
@terraformer:
The president does not determine whom to prosecute. That is the province of the Attorney General, who should be scrupulously independent of the president.
Jeffro
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: that would be ‘hell yes’ and ‘COVID relief’
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Yeah, probably. I have difficulty keeping the assholes straight.
Kay
@Immanentize:
Why do we want their “vaccination plans” (if indeed they exist- they probably don’t).
Their work is garbage. I don’t want the Scott Atlas plan. He can keep that cheap junk.
Better to start fresh with higher quality hires and real work instead of whatever some Trumpist pulled out of their ass in between Fox news appearances.
Jeffro
@terraformer:
Biden meant that he personally doesn’t have the time…but maybe he’ll sic Doug Jones on trumpov & Co ;)
Baud
@terraformer:
What’s his source? Is it “a Democratic insider close to the Biden camp”? He’s always spreading lies.
Immanentize
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes, he is coming home next Monday! His school will test him before he leaves, so he will be in the 72 hour time frame which will keep him from having to get tested/quarantine here. He’ll be here for about two months before heading back. Rice has done an excellent job so far — testing every week; only a .13 positivity rate. Yes, point one three.
Matt
@Immanentize:
Better idea: _tell_ them you’ll pay them for six months, and as soon as they leave the building text them “SIKE” and then don’t pay them anything.
They got into bed with Trump, getting stiffed was a risk they accepted when they signed up.
Baud
@Immanentize:
I reserve violence for people who actually overturn our election results on frivolous grounds. At that point, what else is left?
Immanentize
@Baud: We could just cut your video feed.
@NotMax: That would be a FUN USE OF ZOOM. Yes, I would be inclined.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Yes! Funnily enough, I was just thinking last night how much I’ve missed seeing the reports of BJ meet-ups, and the accompanying pictures identifying Juicers with their nyms. It would be fun to try a couple of virtual get-togethers. Great idea, NM!
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
Oh, fantastic! I’m really happy to hear that!
Betty Cracker
Kudos to elected Dems for calling out Trump’s crybaby tantrum every damned day. It probably won’t do any good because 73M of our fellow citizens are in the world’s dumbest cult. But from Biden to Obama to Pelosi — every elected Dem I’ve seen on TV or read in print lately is calling out Trump’s embarrassing and destructive behavior and remarking on the desperate need for leadership in this crisis that Americans are NOT getting. Rare message discipline! :)
Jeffro
On a side note here, we drew names for ‘Secret Santa’ and my mom made a special point to tell me & my brother to “be sure to buy local”. Why, you ask? Because “local businesses are really hurting” and “Bezos has enough”.
Hmmm…do I ask her why businesses are still hurting, 9 months into the Democrat hoax pandemic, or do I send her a letter to the editor to co-sign, calling for massive tax increases on billionaires? Decisions, decisions…
satby
@terraformer: The reporting is that Biden feels the problems facing the country require more attention than chasing Trump, and for him, he’s not wrong. He also stated he was going to return the DOJ to an independent department working for the people, not the President. Plus there are state investigations going on. Trump won’t get away, but Biden’s personal attention should be on the multiple disasters needing management.
Feathers
This Vanity Fair article by Ivanka Trump’s childhood best friend (and bridesmaid) is a very good read. The author went on from her posh upbringing to become a journalist and war correspondent, and her ability to re-examine her younger life to see what she missed is strong. Why is she writing now? Because she knows how strong the pull will be in upper crust circles to let Ivanka back in. Ivanka was very good at being the “cultured,” acceptable Trump, but her friend saw how the Trump was there all along. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/11/ivanka-trump-was-my-best-friend-now-shes-maga-royalty
Dorothy A. Winsor
The glimpses of competence we get are so comforting. I think I’m developing a Ron Klain crush.
OzarkHillbilly
You gotta know what’s wrong, before you can fix it.
MJS
@terraformer: Or, Biden sees the shit going on with Trump’s supporters right now and sees no reason to inflame them further at this point. It could also be that Biden doesn’t want to give Trump an excuse for dragging out this shit any further. Lots of reasons for not tipping his hand on this particular issue right now.
danielx
@terraformer:
“Alienate Trump voters”, my ass. They are going to be overflowing with bile and hatred no matter what Biden does; they couldn’t be any more alienated if they’d just stepped off a space ship.
If there are no consequences for serious misbehavior, it will go on. Why not, if there’s no downside (like spending some time in the Graybar Hotel)? Make it clear that laws like the Hatch Act, to name one, are not dead letters and violations will result in prosecutions.
Immanentize
@Kay: I think the distribution plans — which were going to be handled by the military? probably need to be quickly modified. So, in other words, they need the plans to avert another cluster fuck because once the distribution system begins, it will be super hard to stop.
JMG
@Baud: There was an NBC News story which said Biden wanted an independent Dept. of Justice which would not be subject to presidential meddling. That’s pretty far from a Trump get out jail free card, but also gets no clicks unless it’s a “Biden to go easy on Trump” headline.
Geeno
@Jeffro: I say we pre-emptively throw them all into an active volcano, because you know they’re going to do it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: Is their semester finished? That was smart planning on Rice’s part if it is. And I’m so glad Immp has been able to have a relatively normal start to college. He waited long enough.
OzarkHillbilly
@Jeffro: Porque no los dos?
Immanentize
@Baud: I am with you there! Shoulder to shoulder. But general deadly revenge porn? Not so much.
jonas
@Immanentize: Speaking of which, Ted Olson (Bush campaign counsel) and David Boies (Gore campaign counsel) issued a joint statement saying that the election was fair and urging Trump to concede and begin the transition process.
Gin & Tonic
@terraformer: I’ve been saying for a couple of years now, nobody significant (and most definitely not anyone named Trump) will be prosecuted. Take that to the bank (but wear a mask.)
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
I have spent years mixing up Jeffrey Toobin and Jonathan Turley in my head, doubtless because of the initials. I expect Baud does the same. (Or maybe he is privy to information about Turley that’s denied to the rest of us. That could happen.)
Kay
I’d just like to repeat that it’s not either/or. If you’re married to tv ads you can do them BUT you can take a small portion of the money and do something else. Hiring organizers is not expensive. You could pay them a really decent wage, 42k for the lowest tier, and you could put them all over a state like Maine and not even make a noticeable dent in your tv advertising budget. It is just insanity to continue to burn money like this. It’s not fair to DONORS, who are not getting a good deal.
We don’t lack money. We lack people who spend it well. In a way I think the bushels of money have made them spend it MORE stupidly, because they have so much they can just fucking burn it.
Small donors should weigh in on this because the Democratic Party now depends on small donors. Ask them how they’re spending your donation. Ask not what they raised, but what they SPENT and on what.
satby
@danielx: And none of that “retribution” and accountability should come from the President. It should come from state and federal investigations led by prosecutors independent of political influence (as much as possible).
This report was an attempt to shit-stir, nothing more.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
This. Instigating and /or directing prosecutions is not a presidential function.
And for those who slaver over thoughts of Nuremberg trials, remember those trials lasted months, even years. Seriously question whether the modern American public has the patience and stamina to bear with that protracted a process, plus it would suck virtually all the air out of any president’s limited years in office.
This is not to say if verifiable evidence of criminality is found and confirmed by prosecutorial authorities to ignore it, but take it one instance at a time rather than as a communal trial.
hueyplong
@MJS: If I were going to gut Trump like a fish after taking the oath of office I’d have said exactly what Biden has allowed to be a rumor of what he’s thinking at the moment.
Not saying he’s going to gut the pig. Just saying that the leaked hint has no meaning at all.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: correctamundo! Did you have a good day with the GD? Break any bones?
germy
gene108
@terraformer:
If there are prosecutions, they will not be flashy or high profile. Probably restarting investigations Barr scuttled or something along those lines.
2022 elections are coming up, and the sad reality is Republican voters turn out much more reliably for mid-terms than our voters, and vigorously prosecuting Trump’s crimes will just give them more reason to turn out. Republican voters LOVE Trump.
Best thing to do is let states take care of him, while minimizing him as much as possible
Kay
If you hire organizers you won’t have to depend on Nate Silver to tell you what voters think. You’ll know.
Just in a money-spending sense it’s so much more productive, too. You can hire Democratic Mainers! People who live there! Plow it right back into the state.
Betty Cracker
Seen on the Twitter: you know that promising Moderna vaccine that Ivanka Trump is saying should be credited to her awful father and android husband as their time in the spotlight grows mercifully short? Guess who actually helped fund the program:
That’s right, Dolly Parton — the woman who funded “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” behind the scenes and wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same damn day — Dolly Parton wrote a $1M check to save us from COVID. An angel for our time.
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Yes, they planned from the beginning for all classes to finish this Friday; and all exams will be online. He is enjoying this week because he says all his classes are wrapping up for finals — he only had one project due this week. But he will be hard at it right after T-Day until the 11th of December. He had a great time, even with it being mostly in his room, but hated the food situation.
Kay
If small donors got together and told the Democratic Party “we want our money spent smarter” they would do it. Act like big donors. Ask to see the where the money went.
Immanentize
@jonas: Those guys are like Oscar and Felix.
Nobody in particular
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
And those who give the orders? Let’s not forget them. Then we can get to the ones whose defense is, “I was only following orders.”
Jeffro
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah…good point. I just think the “tax the billionaires” thing has more potential. It’ll be almost funny whereas the Covid thing is, obviously, not.
I’m getting a lump of coal in my stocking this year, I can tell already. Probably several.
NotMax
@Immanentize
So, no grits chez Imm?
:)
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
Thank you, Imma ?
Jeffro
@Geeno: maybe we can get the TikTok kids to send out MAGA invites to the mother of all rallies at just the right place? Is there an active volcano (or just a large, deep fissure) in the lower 48?
rikyrah
rikyrah
NotMax
@Immanentize
Some folks’ hearts lie elsewhere in the nightshade family.
;)
Immanentize
@NotMax: He loves grits! It was the food services in times of Covid that was depressing. He said all the upper level students said it was much worse this year. He texted me about two weeks ago:
“When I return, it will be with a new appreciation of your cooking.”
Makes a papa proud.
rikyrah
Uh huh
Uh huh ?
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
germy
Baud
@rikyrah:
Same old, same old.
Immanentize
@NotMax: You mean their hearts are potatoes? ?
jonas
@terraformer: The main thing Trump could be charged with, along with his lawyers, is obstruction of justice in connection with the Mueller probe. I agree we need to stop this idea that once a president is out of office we let bygones be bygones, even gross criminality.
A bigger issue imho, however, is assessing what kind of national security risks four years of Trump exposed the US to. His whole administration and its agencies were headed by amateur hacks compromised by who knows what and who engaged in any number of insane corruption schemes that were not only illegal, but also may have constituted huge intelligence breaches and risks.
germy
@rikyrah:
Graham actually violated the law. I think he believed he was safe talking to another Republican. Imagine how shocked he must have been when the story came out: “But we’re all one family!”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: So like most college students all the time!
My brother and I started college the same year and we both had trouble understanding what fellow students were complaining about. Turns out our mother was a bad cook. We just thought that was normal.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: Yes, yes I did. Still finding kernels of oats here and there about the house that got lost in her jacket sleeve when we were feeding the chickens.
rikyrah
Nicole
@danielx:
This is true. And I hope it’s more about not wanting to stir up the pot right now with statements the press will go run after and misinterpret (” BIDEN SAYS LOCK HIM UP”). Biden handled the attempt to make court packing a thing well; I’ll trust him on this one for the moment, too.
germy
@rikyrah:
From the clip:
“I know I can’t tell you what to do.”
“I know you don’t need my instruction.”
Republicans have come to expect civility from Democrats. Republicans treat Democrats with contempt.
Sab
@Kay: Local organizers would be helpful too. I have been moderately active in local politcs for the 20 years since I moved back here. My sisters in law have been active since hogh school (40 + years.) Every presidential election they bring in energetic twenty somethings from 500 miles away on the East coast to tell us what to do and what our local voters think. It’s maddening.
Local young people would love to be involved, but the Democrats don’t have trust funds or family businesses to pay the bills. Working class families don’t have room for the kids to hang around in the non-existent spare bedroom for years.
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
Little Imma loves grits ??
arrieve
@NotMax: I would. Especially if you can get your mom to join us. (I met her at the last meetup in New York.)
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Heh indeed.
My Dad was similar, he said the Navy gave him two great gifts: it fixed his teeth and allowed him to eat as much of the bad food served as he wanted. (“Take what you want, but want what you take” was a big motto in my home growing up.)
NotMax
@Immanentize
Was fortunate that both the colleges where I lived on campus had outstanding food services. Head of the dining hall at one school was a dedicated weekend deep sea fisherman so fresh caught sea bass turned up as one of the dinner menu offerings almost monthly (never less than three choices of entree at any meal, unlimited portions on any or all of them except for the barbecued-on-premises steak every Saturday at one college – that was one per person).
rikyrah
@Kay:
They are only committed to Herd immunity.
Why trust ANYTHING coming from them??
OzarkHillbilly
At the risk of repeating myself:
OzarkHillbilly
@Jeffro: Yellowstone has some great wading pools.
Sab
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I did a junior year in England. All the Americans complained about the food. I thought it tasted like Mom’s only better. Plus more lamb, which I like.
Immanentize
HA!
edit: This is a different Emily Murphy.
blacque_jacques
@Immanentize:
If the food is *worse* than last year, I’ll just say charitably that the quality and taste reflected the imperative to cook and deliver a large amount of food to (then) eight residential colleges at the same time, within a budget. At least they did 35+ years ago.
Flush twice: it’s a long way to CK ([Joyce Rubash Memorial] Central Kitchen).
mad citizen
There was a 60 minutes piece with the military logistics general in “charge” of the vaccine distribution, though listening to it from another room I never got what exactly the military is doing in this regard. Maybe making sure the low-populated areas get the vaccine–or trying to find enough freezers to move it around.
Anyhoo, I assume the vaccine distribution will happen will be through phone texts saying it is available on the Amazon Treasure Truck for 29.99, but only for that day.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy:
Yes, a “perfect conversation”.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
I agree. No point wasting energy on it.
tybee
mine’s more like a green persimmon
Geminid
@PenAndKey: The rage you describe against the republican legislature will be expressed in your Wisconsin 2022 state elections. Democrats will have to contend with a map gerrymandered by republicans. But recent Virginia elections showed that gerrymandering can be overcome. The republican House of Delegates map drawn in 2011 held up for several years, and republicans had a 66-34 lead going into 2017. They lost 15 seats that year, with a 16th decided by a coin toss. The 2019 election added 6 Democratic Delegates to gain a 55-45 advantage, on a republican map. Democrats also picked up 3 Senate seats for a majority. Demographic changes accounted for part of this shift, but the republicans were also on the wrong side of issues that many people really cared about, like Medicaid expansion and gun safety.
The internal republican deliberations over redistricting in 2021 could be stressful. A hardheaded approach would be to sacrifice 2-4 seats to achieve a map that delivers a safe majority in the rest. Somewhat like a game of musical chairs. But who’s going to walk the plank for the good of the party? Maybe the Koch brothers can promise golden parachutes.
Jeffro
@Immanentize: I’m having that put on a t-shirt!
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
YAY!! Now let’s get this show on the road!
O. Felix Culpa
@zhena gogolia:
Oh my goodness, yes! Although the RWNJs would be shrieking about the 73 deaths we’ve suffered under *evil* Hillary’s leadership.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: ’bout damn time.
Immanentize
@blacque_jacques: I truly think it is how food has to prepared and served during Covid — no open food or salad bars, much precooked and pre-packaged. Like getting all your meals from one of those 60s food machines.
Soprano2
Actually, I’m more interested in the new DOJ looking into all the criminality of the people in the Trump administration. They broke laws big and small with impunity; it’s time for them to pay a price for it. Part of restoring our “norms” is restoring the idea that if you break the law while you’re in government it has consequences. It’s no wonder they did everything they did, because no matter what they did no one held them accountable for it. Let the State of New York and New York City take care of the Trumps. I’m more interested in seeing all the other crimes aired and possibly punished.
ETA – I love that Anderson Cooper said it doesn’t matter. I only wish all the other press organs would take on the same attitude, and just quit giving it oxygen by talking about it. Just like talking about whether or not Trump would accept the election before it even happened made it seem acceptable to some for him to reject the results, the more they talk about Trump not conceding the more oxygen it gives to him and his supporters to keep on agitating. Quit paying attention to their silliness, there is so much more important stuff going on in the world for them to cover.
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize:
Wow. So it can be done. And I’m delighted you and the Immp can be together for the holidays. I wish I could see my dad and my sons, but not to be this year. I’m debating whether to organize a Zoom call. I HATE HATE HATE Zoom, but it might be nice to actually see each other.
NotMax
@Sab
And such small portions!
/obligatory
:)
Spent a weekend in my step-brothers flat in West Croydon while he was attending LSE (he was away somewhere else at the time) during my visit to the U.K. in the middle 70s. His landlord’s family, also American, decided to replicate an American Thanksgiving meal. Only about half successful as there were items nigh impossible to find at the grocers.
Strange neo-Dickensian experience was booking a flight from London to Aberdeen at an airline office in London – by candlelight. The coal strikes were ongoing, with resultant extended blackouts.
Immanentize
WARNING!!!!!
You guys — that is not THE Emily Murphy, but a different Professor Emily Murphy….
Baud
@Immanentize: Whew. That is the only meaningful thing we needed from this administration. I don’t care about Trump pouting.
I guess she found another job. I heard she was looking.
@Immanentize: Well, ugh. There should be a law against that.
raven
@Immanentize: We have friends who drove from Athens to California in 40 hours this weekend. Their kids logged in @ 4:45 for class this morning.
Baud
Isn’t there a transitive property associated with Emily Murphy’s that we can rely on here?
O. Felix Culpa
@Kay:
I can’t speak to other states, but I can tell you what the Democratic Party paid for in New Mexico: local (as much as possible) organizers to work in different geographic regions, dedicated organizers to work with the tribes, and fellowships to train local young people to become organizers. The work ended up being mostly virtual due to the pandemic, but would have been a lot of on-the-ground efforts otherwise. This structure began in 2018 and was massively expanded this year.
Chyron HR
@Kay:
“BE SMARTER” is right up there with “DO SOMETHING” in the book of unhelpful advice.
Immanentize
@Baud: Everyone hopes it works like that. Yes, there should be a law against such tweets, because it freaked me out, but it also makes me smile!
WaterGirl
@danielx: Trump voters come pre-alienated.
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
Whoops! We all got excited too soon. This tweet is from a DIFFERENT Emily Murphy.
As you were. We are still in “wait” mode.
Dammit.
germy
Tear down a confederate general statue and put up a Dolly Parton statue.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jeffro:
Nope. Different Emily Murphy.
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
As I pointed out.
SiubhanDuinne
@OzarkHillbilly:
Nope. Different Emily Murphy.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Let’s see what the office space is comprised of. It could have taken them a couple of weeks to find some leaky abandoned WW2-era Quonset huts in the D.C. environs and pressure the phone company to install a party line.
;//
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Different Emily Murphy.
narya
@SiubhanDuinne: Me too, actually–and that’s coming from someone whose Tuesdays are generally a hellscape of back to back meetings.
Joey Maloney
@Jeffro: I nominate Mauna Kea. Advantages:
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Well, as it’s a different Emily Murphy, it’ll take even longer now.
germy
I was googling various people who are in the running to join Biden’s new cabinet.
And then I started chanting “Look them up!”
SiubhanDuinne
@narya:
O/T, but did I miss seeing your photos of the kitchen remodel? No pressure if you haven’t submitted them yet; I just want to make sure I see them!
H.E.Wolf
@Immanentize:
Alas, clicking through to the original proclamation reveals that this is not the Emily Murphy who is obstructing the peaceful transfer of power at the GSA.
Which reminds me: now’s a good time to call your GSA Regional Rep and pass along a message to the real Emily Murphy. WaterGirl has all the info in the sidebar up top.
Aleta
germy
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
When it does happen:
“Do you also find it odd that we’ve been in these transition offices for a while now and the Post Office has yet to deliver a single piece of mail?”
//
Fair Economist
@Kay:
Any of the marquee Senate races raised far more than the entire nationwide Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (statehouses). A moderate carveout from any of them could have left their state committees secure for years. My impression is that wasn’t done.
Some commenter I saw somewhere pointed out that doing so would have made any of the losing Senate candidates permanent powers in their states.
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
The much-loved, much-missed Automat. How I loved going there when I lived in NYC in the ‘60s!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerto_for_Horn_and_Hardart
germy
WaterGirl
@O. Felix Culpa: @Immanentize:
Here at the University of Illinois where all students, faculty and staff are tested *twice weekly, they are seeing a 0.5 percent at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with in-person classes.
I suspect we are much bigger than Rice, but I don’t know numbers.
*Actually it started as twice weekly for all, but they later adjusted so that higher risk people tested 3x per week, and very low-risk folks got tested once a week.
These are the “spit-in-a-cup” tests where you can get your results within 5 hours.
They are talking about opening up testing to the community, but for now they have added only “university retirees and affiliates”.
I suspect that with the students going home for Thanksgiving and not coming back until the spring semester, that will leave them able to handle testing for some of the community, as well.
Baud
@Fair Economist:
Well, people say don’t to Dem central committees because they don’t spend money well, and now we can’t give direct to candidates through ActBlue because individual donors don’t spend money well.
There’s simply no one person who is in charge of allocating all Dem money according to a formula, and I’m not sure having such a person would be legal or wise.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
1) They really were cool, perhaps even the more after becoming dowdy retro.
2) The elephant head spouts on the coffee and hot water dispensers were cooler.
3) The creamed spinach and the mac ‘n’ cheese were really, really tasty.
.
zhena gogolia
@Immanentize:
That fooled me — maybe label it?
geg6
@Baud:
What I read is that Biden says he wasn’t going to direct his AG or Justice to do anything and it would be up to them what, if any, investigations and possible criminal charges might be in store for the Trumps and their minions.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
It’s not the real GSA administrator, just somebody else named Emily Murphy.
zhena gogolia
@OzarkHillbilly: See my comment above — it’s not real.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Regardless, government by tweet sucks triceratops balls.
Omnes Omnibus
@geg6: Which is as it should be.
Immanentize
@SiubhanDuinne: automat! That’s what they are called. Thank you!
Immanentize
@zhena gogolia: I will do better next time in my labeling, but the I’d of the tweeter is right there. More warnings next time!
The Thin Black Duke
@WaterGirl: THAT needs to be on a t-shirt
O. Felix Culpa
@geg6:
Which is exactly how it should be.
ETA: Heh: OO got there ahead of me. Great minds…I’m sure.
MomSense
@Kay:
The problem we have in Maine is that most of the 2nd CD is not canvassable. The actual call completion rate continues to decline and the population is older and not as likely to be reached digitally. There is a huge advantage for incumbents.
zhena gogolia
@Immanentize:
I’m just so on edge, not so much because of Drumpf, but because of all his enablers in the government. I was elated when I saw that tweet because I thought maybe it was crumbling — my hopes were dashed.
Amir Khalid
@Immanentize:
It took her a week or so of being yelled at for gumming up the works, but Emily did get there in the end. Someone should give her a stale, week-old cookie.
Immanentize
@The Thin Black Duke: agreed.
Also, we just made a t-shirt for my friend whose birthday is upcoming (he’s Jewish):
“Drones will not replace me!”
Amir Khalid
@Immanentize:
Okay, so no cookie for her.
gene108
@Fair Economist:
What needs to happen is someone with a platform, and a following, encourage donations to state Democratic parties.
Whether the person is a celebrity, social media savvy politician, or media personality, does not really matter. Just encourage people to chip in $10 a month to the local Democratic Party or DLCC.
Immanentize
@MomSense: But couldn’t more be done with the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy?
Geminid
@geg6: I am fine with that. Appoint a good AG and Justice Department leadership, and tough U.S. District Attorneys, including many from the last administration. And then let the chips fall where they may. Some of the trump administration’s worst actions may not be prosecutable. But I expect that the relevant House commitees can at least expose in detail.
Immanentize
@Amir Khalid: It’s a different Emily, Amir. It was a good prank, but seems to have landed hard on some.
MomSense
@Immanentize:
I don’t think a Democratic organizer would work. It’s got to come from the community. If they requested an organizer that would be different.
germy
@Immanentize:
I think the other Emily got tired of people mistaking her for the republican operative.
There’s a guy on twitter whose name is similar to Matt Gaetz, and he deals with the same thing.
Immanentize
@germy: Twitter is weird.
different-church-lady
@Immanentize: my heart is a cold potato at this point.
different-church-lady
@zhena gogolia: Scrupulously independent in this case could mean “prosecute the everlovin’ fuck out of him”.
But I think it would be wiser to see what some of the states do first.
Kay
Just a reminder that the entire Republican Party and the Trump Administration are still refusing to recognize the results of a US election.
They’re pushing back the date when professionals will be able to get into the Trump cult bunker and clean up the mess the low quality hires made.
We’re going to end up removing these folks physically. This is the best job any of them ever had. They’re unemployable outside the Trump cult. They’ll be milking the US public for as long as they possibly can.
The next time a Republican is elected this will happen again- the whole country will suffer while they play out their authoritarian, anti-democratic strong man beliefs.
It really doesn’t matter if they harm the country because they’re cowards or because they’re anti-democratic- the effect is the same.
Hire these people and it is HELL to get rid of them. No one wants them outside the Trump cult, so they’ll cling to these no-show jobs for as long as they can.
different-church-lady
@SiubhanDuinne: Turley wears the pants in that family.
mrmoshpotato
“But my daddy Vladdy gets all the electors he wants!” screamed the Kremlin’s orange bitch.
Kay
The United States now has to out in a whole new set of regulations to ensure that Republicans will leave office when their term ends. Without the regulations and enforcement of the regulations they will simply cling to power because they have no capacity to self monitor or self correct.
They have to be rigidly regulated like unruly three year olds because they lack the capacity to self police.
We’re all babysitting conservatives. A pack of selfish children who refuse to grow up.
Kay
What do you think the low quality Trump hires are afraid of? Why won’t they let the Biden professionals in? Is it that bad?
You know it is. The cult are barring the doors because if someone who isn’t in the cult gets in there they’ll be horrified.
They can’t put it off forever. Their garbage work is eventually going to be revealed.
catclub
He never did.
catclub
I think Stalin’s observation will apply: “One death is a tragedy, a millions deaths are a statistic”
A million fuckups during the Trump admin will just be statisitics – except to the people who were killed and harmed.
eta: mis-entered my email in the form
different-church-lady
@Kay: Jesus, my brain just went to the thought that Biden might be the first president shot by someone in the White House.
catclub
and good health insurance
different-church-lady
@Kay: Jesus, my brain just went to the thought that Biden might be the first president shot by someone in the White House. Like, are they going to have to drag some of these people out bodily on the afternoon of the 20th?
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: I took the liberty of adding a note that it’s a different Emily, but I can absolutely un-do that if you want.
O. Felix Culpa
@MomSense: We also have a problem in rural areas with door-knocking. I experimented with canvassing in our rural precincts in 2018. It was not worth the time and gas outlay. They’re too far-flung and sometimes simply not findable. Plus many have unfriendly dogs and/or signs that threaten the shooting of trespassers. In normal times we would have held local events to draw people to, or had individuals host coffees or houseparties for outreach. But these aren’t normal times and we couldn’t do any of those things. We held Zoom events, but most unengaged people don’t engage via Zoom.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@terraformer:
I think there is a better way to handle it. Fully cooperate with state authorities as they investigate rape and fraud allegations. Once that has worked its way through the court system, then they can start a quiet investigation followed by trickling out evidence of federal crimes, including breaches of national security. The problem right now is that a large chunk of the country believes Trump is innocent and the ‘deep state’ is out to get him. If the Feds immediately go after him, it will just confirm their delusions. People need to gradually come around to recognizing that he really is a crook.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: They are all complicit in bioterrorist mass murder. They should be put in prison.
different-church-lady
@WaterGirl: I have a job for you. There’s several stupid things I said to people early in my career and I’m wondering if you could go back and add some notes for me…
Benw
@Kay: Right!? It’s really bad. The transition team’s going to be picking pieces of hard drive up off the floor when they finally get in
Immanentize
@WaterGirl: no, thank you! I would have if i could have!
WaterGirl
@catclub: I fixed you.
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: New Mexico Democrats set the stage for their organizing success under state chairman Deb Haaland. In 2017, during her tenure, Democrats regained control of the state house of representatives. A citizen of Laguna Pueblo, Haaland served in the 2012 Obama reelection campaign as state director for Native American organizing.
Now she is Congresswoman Deb Haaland. Last year, I looked up a lot of members of the Democratic House class of 2018. They generally impressed me; Haaland was one of the most impressive. I’m hoping Joe Biden will add her to his Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. And listen to Haaland’s advice on matters generally.
NotMax
@immanentize
“Funny, You Don’t Look Dronish.”
:)
O. Felix Culpa
@Geminid: Yes, I worked with Deb during that time and have been actively engaged in retaking the Roundhouse and keeping it! I’m not sure about taking her out of her district for a cabinet position, but I’d rather that than losing Michelle Lujan Grisham as governor. She is uniquely suited to this job and for these times
ETA: I think retiring NM Senator Tom Udall might be better positioned for Interior.
cain
@Baud:
I have noticed a lot of manipulative tweets and other bits supposedly gleaned from the Biden camp that would create negative responses.
I think we need to be careful what we ascribe to the Biden camp without a clear source. I’m not going to get suckered in by this bullshit – eg I’m not a Trump supporter.
NotMax
@O. Felix Culpa
i believe all the Udalls have a genetic propensity suited to Interior.
/supporter of Mo during the ’76 primaries
Miss Bianca
@O. Felix Culpa:
So glad to hear this. NM Dems seem to have it together. I wish I could say the same for Colorado Dems. Le sigh. I may have to get involved with Party politics again, altho’ I get so impatient with the white whiners in other county party leadership positions that I had to absent myself from state-level discussions so I wouldn’t start email missives with “Dear White Working Class Midwest Guy on the Front Range, I feel your pain! It must chap your ass SO HARD that all the *other* White Working Class Midwest Guys who voted Dem voted for Joe Biden, not Bernie Sanders! To say nothing of the other working class guys and gals who didn’t happen to be white guys. What could possibly explain this? Only false consciousness!”
O. Felix Culpa
@NotMax: I remember Mo! It does seem that the Udalls are particularly committed to preserving our natural heritage, which is a nice legacy to have.
neldob
@Kay: how do we do this? “If small donors got together and told the Democratic Party “we want our money spent smarter” they would do it. Act like big donors. Ask to see the where the money went.” It does seem like Gideon had a lot of money, and a (small) chunk of it was mine.
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca: LOL. Like all Democratic Parties, we have our struggles, including with the [mostly] white [mostly] male leftier and purer than thou types. A few have made my life miserable from time to time. But they’re mainly keyboard warriors and thankfully our real leaders are nimble and pragmatic enough to engage in actual party-building and election-winning.
There’s a lot of handwringing happening in some corners now about the traditional Hispanic male vote, which is peeling off to the Republicans. I want to see more data before drawing conclusions, but I suspect that the phenomenon is mostly older men who — like the male WWC voter — are aggrieved because the world is changing around them. Plus the precious fetuses. Younger Hispanic males take a different attitude and are more progressive, in my experience.
cain
@O. Felix Culpa:
I think we need to be careful about stealing congress critters unless they come from D+20 districts.
cain
@neldob:
Have you seen our party? We rarely agree en-masse about anything. :D
O. Felix Culpa
@cain: I wholeheartedly agree!
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa:President-elect Biden can choose among several strong candidates for most cabinet positions. Udall would be excellent for Interior. I’m hoping for Haaland at Interior because the Department has historically used its power over Native Americans to their detriment. A Native American as head of Interior would have a more than symbolic effect for these Americans. But Deb Haaland will do good work whether in Congress or in the cabinet.
WaterGirl
@different-church-lady: Only if you will do the same for me!
Geminid
@cain: Haaland’s seat would not make your cut, as she won reelection by only 16.4%. But I suspect that seat is currently out of republican reach. Mr Culpa would know better than I.
But Biden won’t draft Haaland for Interior, but will only consider her if she let’s it be known she wants the job. And Haaland can judge best where she can have the most impact. I think Speaker Pelosi would miss Haaland’s influence within the Democratic House Caucus, though. Haaland seems like a uniter.
WaterGirl
@catclub: All these McGenerals can go fuck themselves. They enabled Trump, even though they came in with the gravitas to have made a difference if they had gone public with everything in real time.
Screw their concern for their careers, and their overrated view of the influence they could have. And double screw the ones who used their positions to move forward with their own agendas of hate.
And fuck Woodward until the end of time for waiting to spill the beans that Trump knew from the start that this was airborne.
*I realize that’s a lot of screwing and fucking; I apparently woke up angry about this today.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: *check your mattress. Someone might have slipped a pea under it.
laura
@WaterGirl: Come sit on my comfy six foot couch. We can trade “fuck these fucking fuckers” all the live long day
And my love and admiration for Dolly Parton continues apace.
WaterGirl
@cain: @O. Felix Culpa:
I love the juxtaposition of these two totally unrelated comments:
O. Felix Culpa
@WaterGirl: LOL. The serendipity of Democratic agreement.
planetjanet
@NotMax: I am up for it!
BruceFromOhio
Late to the thread, just got this in a blast email from OH Senator Sherrod Brown:
That last highlight is mine. Now that the fascists have seen how much chaos can be sown (and successful grifting conducted), every election is going to be just like this one.
catclub
The guy from Louisiana qualifies.
Scuffletuffle
@Baud: put that on pay per view and John would never have to fundraise again.
BruceFromOhio
@terraformer: I expect the FBI and Justice Dept for Southern District of New York will be at the front of the line. And also the NY Attorney General’s office.
The line forms to the left.
It doesn’t preclude the new Federal AG from going after the little fish, either. P-E Biden won’t have to get his hands dirty dealing with all the skeletons.
I agree with you, “let’s get past this” doesn’t discourage the little shits from pulling this crap all over again. A little jail time, or just the threat of incarceration, will straighten ’em right up. Just like it is supposed to.
Miss Bianca
@O. Felix Culpa:
Whew. That’s good to hear.
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
Yessss????
Mo MacArbie
I’m beginning to suspect that that may be a different Emily Murphy.
obligatory
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca: We’ll need more analysis, but I suspect that with both older and younger Hispanic males, education may be the differentiating factor. Maybe also rural vs. urban, but if they’re college educated, they’re more likely to live in a population center. I hope that someone will engage in a deep dive with these demographic groups so that we have good data to work with going forward.
Geminid
@Geminid: when I said I hoped Joe Biden would listen to Deb Haaland’s general advice, I was thinking of an anecdote involving Stewart Udall, whose son Senator Tom Udall is also thought to be a candidate for Interior Secretary. The story goes that JFK met with his Arthur Goldberg, his Labor Secretary, not long after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Goldberg said, I just wish you had consulted me and Stu Udall about that operation. JFK responded, but you’re Labor Secretary, and Udall’s Interior. Yes, Goldberg responded, but I served in Europe with the OSS during WW2, and I would have told you how very few of our agents evaded capture. And Udall commanded Marines in amphibious landings in the Pacific, and he could have told you how difficult they are.
J R in WV
@NotMax:
But From Wikipedia:
@NotMax:
So less than a year, for a more complex series of judicial trials, 24 of the most despicable leaders of the most despicable tyranny in modern history, much less than would be needed in the case of the Trump regime.
Trump’s crimes and those of his henchmen, are trivial crimes involving power and money, with the exception of the crimes against people seeking amnesty in America. Those crimes approach those committed by the Nazis during their rampage across Europe.
Perhaps the war crimes trials in Japan would be a better example?
But as others have said, this is up to the Department of Justice, once the DoJ is restored to its previous position of honor and justice, from its present state of ignominy under Fat Billy Barr, the theocratic monster currently in charge of the Dept.
J R in WV
@Betty Cracker:
Dolly is such a great person, with such great accomplishments, she makes me cry with joy as much as Ms Obama, First Lady Emeritus does. Such a self motivated achiever !!
NotMax
@J R in WV
There was more than one Nuremberg trial. Without going to look up precise dates, IIRC the process lasted into 1947.
J R in WV
@NotMax:
I think they were still trying small fry into 1949, but the big cheeses were all tried in the first trial, and hanged on Oct 16, 1946.
Which was a very busy day for the Army’s hangman, Master Sergeant John C. Woods, who said to Time magazine “The way I look at this hanging job, somebody has to do it . . . 10 men in 103 minutes. That’s fast work.”
Chris T.
From https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517636/characters/nm0141682: